Dei Verbum is the first major document from Vatican II. It is a dogmatic constitution about the Word of God.
According to the document Dei Verbum:
"....2. In His goodness and wisdom God chose to reveal Himself and to make known to us the hidden purpose of His will (see Eph. 1:9) by which through Christ, the Word made flesh, man might in the Holy Spirit have access to the Father and come to share in the divine nature (see Eph. 2:18; 2 Peter 1:4). Through this revelation, therefore, the invisible God (see Col. 1;15, 1 Tim. 1:17) out of the abundance of His love speaks to men as friends (see Ex. 33:11; John 15:14-15) and lives among them (see Bar. 3:38), so that He may invite and take them into fellowship with Himself. This plan of revelation is realized by deeds and words having an inner unity: the deeds wrought by God in the history of salvation manifest and confirm the teaching and realities signified by the words, while the words proclaim the deeds and clarify the mystery contained in them. By this revelation then, the deepest truth about God and the salvation of man shines out for our sake in Christ, who is both the mediator and the fullness of all revelation. (2)....."
The second major document is called Lumen Gentium. It is also a dogmatic constitution describing the Church as a mystery in which God is at work. Laity and the clergy of the Church is both included in the mystery.
Our Church is a pilgrimage on a journey of faith, guided and led by the Holy Spirit, but always is in need of growth with the people.
Lumen Gentium means Light of Nations.
According to the document Lumen Gentium:
"....1. Christ is the Light of nations. Because this is so, this Sacred Synod gathered together in the Holy Spirit eagerly desires, by proclaiming the Gospel to every creature,(1) to bring the light of Christ to all men, a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church. Since the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race, it desires now to unfold more fully to the faithful of the Church and to the whole world its own inner nature and universal mission. This it intends to do following faithfully the teaching of previous councils. The present-day conditions of the world add greater urgency to this work of the Church so that all men, joined more closely today by various social, technical and cultural ties, might also attain fuller unity in Christ..."
The last constitution of The Second Vatican Council is Gaudium et Spes. This is a pastoral document that focuses on the relationship between the Church and the modern world. The Church must be continually engaged in the world. Whatever humanity expeirences the Church too expereinces these through the followers of Jesus.
The Church is to help shed light on trhe human condition, and take part in sharing and addressing the needs of the world.
According to the document Gaudium et Spes:
".....1. The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of men. United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father and they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every man. That is why this community realizes that it is truly linked with mankind and its history by the deepest of bonds...."
Ryann Cornelius
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